A page from my journal:
April 1-2, 2024
Not giving up is more than just continuing to mindlessly do all of the things that everyone can see. Not giving up is a heart stance; a hope; a way of looking at life that says, “I may fail, but I still believe I can and will succeed. Things may look bad, but I will keep my heart engaged with what God is doing. I will not give up.”
In some ways, it’s related to not forsaking our first love (Revelation 2:4-5). You can mindlessly hold hands with someone, say the right things, and even get them good gifts. But if your heart isn’t engaged, then it’s not true love, and it’s definitely not first love.
Because not giving up is a heart-stance, it can take more energy to hope than to give up. We have to choose to believe what God said. It’s training our minds to think in terms of God rather than in terms of earth. I’m not saying that it’s easy, just that it will take less energy and intentionality to hope for what God has says once we have trained ourselves – and continue to train ourselves – to focus on what God is doing rather than what He’s not doing (or the outcome of what God doesn’t seem to be doing).
When hope and love collide, it’s the basis of faith. Faith is more than hope because it also has an element of God’s promises in it. But it’s hard to have faith without love for the thing that you’re hoping for. It’s why we don’t say that we ‘have faith for something bad to happen to someone.’ Faith is rooted and grounded in love.
If you’re having trouble hoping, or if you’re having trouble believing or trusting God, choose love. That doesn’t mean choosing to be ushy-gushy or to give in to everyone else. It means doing the most loving thing in every situation. That may be telling a person where they are wrong (with respect, honor, and no accusation – dishonor and accusation, no matter how true, ends up being the mouthpiece of the devil). It may be overlooking an offence. It may be serving. It may look like encouragement. It always helps others to love, trust, persevere, and protect themselves and others (1 Corinthians 13:7).
It’s good to hope, but it’s also vital that we hope in what God has promised and not just for what we want to see. There are two reasons for this: 1) because when we try to hope for our imaginings, it’s likely that we’ll be disappointed, and 2) because when we hope with God, He gives us strength and power to hope. Instead of a vain imagination, we have power to not just hope, but to have faith in what God is doing.
